The Oblation

[spanishviolet]

Ask nothing more of me, sweet,
All I can give you I give
Heart of my heart, were it more,
More would be laid at your feet:
Love that should help you to live,
Song that should spur you to soar.

All things were nothing to give
Once to have sense of you more,
Touch you and taste of you, sweet,
Think you and breathe you and live,
Swept of your wings as they soar,
Trodden by chance of your feet.

I that have love and no more
Give you but love of you, sweet;
He that hath more, let him give;
He that hath wings, let him soar;
Mine is the heart at your feet
Here, that must love you to live.

A stirring blend of dianthus, French lavender, blackberry, and white honey.

All the components excited me, although I didn't know what dianthus was when I ordered (a type of carnation). I knew we were meant to be together ...

In the bottle: a cool floral, classically perfumey. I recognize the blackberry from Bitter Moon ...

On me: there's the honey! It stayed a bit perfumey for a couple of minutes, then warmed up & is suddenly intoxicating & not perfumey anymore. The blackberry & lavender seem sophisticated to me, but the honey & mild carnation (not the spicy kind) seem old-fashioned & warm. A soft, beautiful scent which will be perfect for spring. And a goodly amount of throw for me too ...

Wow, do I smell good!

[blueroses]

I love the smell of blackberry, but this is the first BPAL bottle I've bought that has this note.

 

In the bottle: It reminds me of the teas I drink. I tend to drink fruity and herbal teas, and always with honey. It's much more herbal (lavender) in the bottle than on my skin.

 

On: Blackberry, a very deep, pungent (in the good way!) blackberry, made sweet by the honey and a little more adult by the lavender. On me, it's not a classical perfumey scent, but very natural and well-blended - I can't pick the notes apart once applied. I don't smell the carnation - or if I do, it's very different from the regular spicy carnation smell.

 

Good throw, and lasts a long time, too. If the scent were a color, it'd be the deep pink on the label.

 

This is my favorite of the Lupercalias and I've tried almost all of them.

[Little Bird]

I was so happy when the lab made Bitter Moon, since I've been longing for a good blackberry blend... then I was heartbroken when the poppy in Bitter Moon ruined the blackberry. Thankfully, I was happy again when the lab released more blackberry blends

 

The Oblation is a dream blend for me. The lab's blackberry note is fantastic... not fakely sweet at all (which is what I get from most companies). It smells like real, tart blackberries to me with something of their almost earthy quality.

 

That gorgeous blackberry note is the main part that I get from this fragrance, with a bitter and slightly astringent lavender accompanying it at first. In the drydown, the lavender calms down a bit (loses its harshness and sweetens up), but I don't get much of the honey that I can pick out.

 

Overall, this blend smells exactly like a real blackberry patch. My grandmother in Arkansas has over an acre of blackberry bushes that I've spent plenty of time in. The Oblation transports me right back into the middle of those bushes. Such a great smell. Fruity, but still earthy and almost tart & bitter, but not unpleasantly so. The lavender in the drydown is so lovely too, summery and flowery sweet.

 

I'm so glad that I have a bottle of this one. I'm loving BPAL's blackberry.

[bibliophile]

Oh, I love this! The tartness of the blackberry combines in the most beautiful way with the lavender, and the delicious, natural honey note in the background anchors the blend nicely and provides a nice contrast to the dryness of the fruit and herbal notes (although in the interest of full disclosure, I should note that I used Lush's B Never... shower gel immediately before putting this on, so I might be getting some honey from that too). The scent doesn't change too much from bottle to skin for me, although the lavender seems to be more low-key on me than in the bottle. The carnation doesn't stand out to me, either in the bottle or on. Color-wise, I would describe this as a leaf green and so-purple-it's-black scent. None of the more in-your-face-sexy Lupercalia blends have worked on me -- but this one not only smells good, but makes me feel good. Another surprising and wonderful blend from Beth!

Edited January 28, 2007 by bibliophile

[Copia]

Yes!

In bottle: tea, perhaps with lemon

 

Wet: Herbal tea, herbal tea, la-la-la-la-la-love herbal tea! Blackberries- creamy sweet blackberries and honey. Honey often goes very nasty on me, but this is divine. The sweetness is very organic, not candy-like at all.

It reminded my boyfriend of a peach, and once he pointed it out I could get peach from it, too. It's one of those truly alchemical scents wherein 2 or more notes combine to evoke a completely different note that's not actually there.

 

Then it softens and gets deeper. It's still not what I'd call a subtle scent, but it's not overpowering at all. There's a green freshness underneath it all. This is damn good stuff.

 

This is one of my new favorites; I'm trying to decide between ordering 1 or 2 more bottles.

[sookster]

straight sniff from imp is sage and blackberry....

 

bitter and herbal...

 

once applied, blackberry and dandelion greens....freshly picked....

super bitter yet mouthwatering....

oh yeah...there is that lavender after 30 minutes ....

 

very much like bitter moon so i don't need a big bottle

[Em-]

Very sweet and bright pink - much like the label.

 

This is very like fruity bubblegum on me - I must be really amping the sweet notes, because I cannot specifically pick out "blackberry" or "honey" or anything that would pinpoint that scent - I would have put money on there being lotus in this, actually.

 

Still, it is definitely worth another test run.

 

So, I'm testing this again, and am definitely getting something more herbal and rich this go round, and a deeper, richer true blackberry scent. Absolutely worth the second try.

Edited February 7, 2007 by emzebel

[blu°]

This smells like bottled spring / early summer. Very fitting for a Valentine's Day scent, and a really interesting scent, too. It's mainly about the blackberry and lavender on me, with a sweet and slightly tart sparkliness from the honey note. Altogether it reminds me of some type of candy or something, not sure which.

 

At times I'm thinking, the honey doesn't sit well on my skin, and I'm not sure yet how well we'll get along on the long run, but I like it... quite a lot right now.

 

Very sweet and girly, a bit dreamy, and with a lot of bright and sunny in it.

[minnalavender]

The Oblation is a beautiful fruity, summer blend. In the vial lavender dominates, which suits me just fine! However, once on my skin, the lavender note recedes and the fruit really blossoms. The blackberry note blends perfectly with the herbal lavender and what I assume is the dianthus - if there's honey, it's not the same kind as in O that turns into baby wipes on my skin.

 

This is a sweet, old-fashioned china bowl full of blackberries next to a vase with lavender on a checkered tablecloth on the porch in June - simple, sweet, and lovely.

 

I just adore it! Big bottle for sure.

[Alchemy21599]

In the vial: crushed lavender with a hint of fruity sweetness.

 

Wet: blackberries sweetened with sugar.

 

Dry: this scent is all blackberry on me. It is a wonderful scent, but I think I will try it in my oil burner rather than using it as perfume.

[savage_rose]

It smelled very, very blackberry in the bottle, and as I eagerly slathered (because how could blackberry go wrong? Right? Right?), I was shocked by how perfumey sweet it smelled. Blackberry present, lavender present, not sure about dianthus, no honey to speak off...just sweet. Overbearingly so.

 

But as it sits, the honey emerges, and it starts smelling like honeyed blackberry wine. If there is such a thing...but no, there must be, because that is exactly what that smells like. Mmmm! Now it's smelling like a sour breakfast jelly. I like this, but it's like trying something out of Willy Wonka's...you never know what to expect, except a surprise.

[fiddledragon]

I'd been wavering over this in a decant circle and finally decided to order one. By accident, I went through the same process for both decant circles and ended up with two (well, eventually two; I only have one now). I was kicking myself because I thought I wouldn't like it all that much. Well...something must have been correct in telling me to get two!

 

In the imp, this is juicy sweet real fresh blackberry with a hint of very dark soft lavender. Berry scents often go kind of odd on me, but this is the most amazing berry I've ever smelled!

 

On me, the blackberry and honey are strongest, with just a hint of lavender. It smells mostly like blackberry, specifically like some kind of really, really good real-fruit hard candy. The honey is light and doesn't sour like it sometimes does. The lavender just makes the berry scent even sexier. There's a kind of flowery tone there which might be the dianthus; no idea what that is. It could just be the honey. It got a *very* enthusiastic reception from my boyfriend, so I think this one is a winner!

 

Now to just convince myself that two imps is more than enough and I don't actually need a bottle. But it'll be so good in summer...

[LiberAmoris]

The Oblation is a pink, happy blend on me---reminiscent in that color association of Pink Moon, though not nearly as sweet by a long shot. The lavender here is really ingenious, perfectly blended to play its astringency against the sweetness of the honey. In fact, it’s hard for my nose to tell where the lavender ends and the blackberry begins, which is kind of amazing, I think.

 

There is something innocent and youthful (perhaps even naive) about this blend that aligns wonderfully with the feel of the Swinburne poem. Something to wear on the rare days when I’m not feeling bitter about love!

[sofaking6]

I like The Oblation, at least because I can really smell the honey and it smells good on me, and this is my first honey BPAL that I've gotten so that's cool.

 

It's very sweet...someone said like blackberry jelly...to me it smells a little bit like Pez.

 

It's also smooth though, kind of creamy even, which blends very well with the sweetness.

 

I'm still not sure whether it's a keeper for me or not.

[kwelge]

Imp: Ah, blackberry's definitely in here.

 

Skin: Yup, blackberry. Not getting much else -- might be toned down by the other notes, and I'm getting the same soft, spring smell feel. I tend to amp the usual honey note, and I'm not getting the typical strong, sweet note -- it's much lighter here. Can't really pick out the lavender or carnation.

 

Throw: almost nonexistent.

 

Verdict: Neat idea, and reminds me of picking blackberries back home on warm summer days. Definitely a happy smell. May keep the imp, but no real desire for a bottle at this time.

[Iceblink]

Very sweet fruit tea that slowly morphs into blackberry jam. There's almost a peachy hint at times to my nose--where'd that come from? I'm going to get this out again when summer's here; it's a little too intensely fruity for wintertime.

[morrigain]

Oh, yik. All I'm getting is super-sweet blackberry. It completely overpowers the other notes, and it doesn't blend well with my chemistry. It started to give me a headache after awhile, and I had to wash it off.

[gingersnapp]

Whooo, that is a strong, sharp green scent right out of the bottle. It reminded me of walking into the greenery section at our local Frank's Nursery & Crafts as a child. Nothing but wet, green plants.

 

Now that it's dry, it's still pretty sharp thanks to the lavender, but the blackberry tempers it nicely and it's a sweet, candied floral.

[The_Merf]

In the bottle: Jay-sus, that smells pink (as others have said...like the label). Indeed, if this were a CT bottle where I didn't know the notes, I'd peg it for lotus.

 

On the skin: The pink immediately loses its edge and this doesn't act like lotus at all (thank God). What emerges is a combination of the dianthus and blackberry. As others have said, it is very tart and fresh.

 

Drydown and wear: The berry note continues to dominate, but loses its lush freshness. Sometimes a waft of the "pink" note comes up, but when I sniff my wrist, it is gone. Other times, this sort of smells like grape-flavored Bubblelicious gum. I'm really torn on this scent. While it is not all that strong, it is a nice, interesting take on the clean scent, and it would be a lovely perfume for spring.

[astridclaire]

The most delicious, fresh, ripe balckberry smeared with lavender and honey. This is sweet without being cloying and has an almost vanilla-ish base. This will be perfect for summer and I'm glad the florals in this aren't overwhelming.

 

This blend reminds me of warm sun, gingham and calico cloth made into aprons, and making jam or pies.

 

Definitely a keeper!

[Eemia]

This is innocently sweet and pretty. I'm glad I got a full bottle of this before testing it. I love lavender and blackberry separately but together is so beautiful.

 

The blackberry is tart and ripe and very distinct against the lavender. The soft and soothing quality that I sometimes associate with lavender is not noticable here. This lavender is sharp and strong and gorgeous.

 

It stays pretty true throughout the time I wore it, only fading lightly to reveal the softer honey notes underneath. Strong throw for a short time and then it stays pretty close to my skin.

 

I don't like fruity scents (citrus is usually a miss for me) but a bold and distinct berry like this one is a perfect alternative.

[jessiesquash]

In the bottle this was not what I expected, very herbal and mostly lavender. Where's the blackberry and the honey?

 

On my skin I get almost exclusively lavender, very sharp and pungent. I gave up on this blend pretty quickly but decided to try it again because others went through that same pungent phase. I should have known better however, because honey is not my friend. The lavender calmed down alright and then left me with sickeningly sweet honey. I couldn't wait to get it off.

 

I'm glad I tried it though because you never know. I'm constantly being surprised.

[for_the_nonce]

First and foremost, I can smell the blackberry. However, it doesn't overpower the other notes- the honey and carnation are right beside it. Luckily, the lavender is more of an afterthought, though I usually amp it. This is a very unique blend- it's both sweet and fruity, as well as spicy and herbal. Overall, it's very beautiful and feminine. I'm definitely going to get a bottle before it goes away.

[dronzeka]

I'm not quite sure what to make of this. I love lavender, but sometimes the Lab's lavender goes really sharp and overly-herbal on me, and initially that's the case here. And fruits are dodgy on me - either lovely, or nasty. While I'm not sure that blackberry goes entirely cat pee on me as it does on some people, it's not especially nice on me to start either. At the drydown, though, I get some of the lovely honey coming out, and suddenly everything is much nicer - golden-sweet with a dark purple fruity edge. I don't know what dianthus smells like, but in the end it's primarily honey and blackberry, maybe with a little bit of a floral to bridge the two - no lavender, though. Problem is, I'm testing other stuff tonight, too, and I think it's confusing my. So I think I have to try this again to see if it's something I want more of before the Lupercalia scents go away, but it's growing on me.

[Rheliwen]

Freshly applied there's a blast of tart, slightly bitter blackberry and a heavy dose of lavender.

 

Dry, the lavender has receded (did I see a pig fly outside my window??) and I'm left with straight blackberry. The berry is a really fresh scent, like the fruit is alive in its vibrancy. It reminds me of picking blackberries along the roads in Seattle where they grow like weeds